Club1Hotels Update: Free for the first year ($675 savings) + now get a $100 Restaurant gift card and/or Priority Pass Membership with bookings

A little over a week ago we let you know about Club1Hotels and even ran a contest that is now closed (winner will be announced by the end of this week) but our promotion to get a beta membership with this fee based luxury hotel booking service for free (US$675 annual fee!) is still going strong until the end of the month!

Now Club1Hotels has sweetened the pot for those who join and book hotels with their service. The two offers are a $100 Restaurant.com gift and 1 year Priority Pass standard membership (you can learn more about Priority Pass in our Guide to Business Class lounges). Normally when you do buy a Club1Hotels membership you'll get the latter offer included however as part of getting the first year for free with our offer the Priority Pass membership is not included so that's where these promotion comes into play:

1. Book any hotel from Club1Hotels on or before 10/31/16 and receive a $100 of Restaurant.com electronic gift cards, Gift cards can be used at any of the 18,000 participating restaurants across the US. Restaurant.com will issue in $25.00, $50.00 or $100.00 denominations, if you use a $25.00 card you must spend $50.00, if you use a $50.00 card you must spend $100.00, and if you use a $100.00 gift card you must spend $200.00. (Most will want (4) $25.00 gift cards!) Club1Hotels issue them to members via email the day of arrival (as reservations can be cancelled).

2. Book 6-rooms with Club1Hotels on or before 10/31/16 and automatically receive a 1-year Standard Priority Pass Membership and gain access to airport clubs and VIP lounges globally with your sixth booking. This can be 6x 1-night room bookings or 6 multiple night room bookings.

$100 in Restaurant.com gift certificates can generally be purchased at less than face value and they contain restrictions but still they can provide some value considering you should already be saving on your luxury hotel stays with Club1Hotels.

To sign up for the free first year membership and start booking for the above offers simply visit our dedicated page on Club1Hotels. You can also learn more about Club1Hotels in our first post about the service.

October 19 Update: Rewards Canada Podcast now available for Android users and lots of new bonuses for you!

News, Tips & Tricks
Exciting news for Android users! The Rewards Canada Podcast is now on Google Play. You can access it from our Podcast page or straight from Google Play

Posts since our last update:

• Hotel Review: Comfort Suites Regina
  This is from a stay this past summer but thought a review would be good as the Rewards Canada family…
• Current Bonus Mile Offers for flying within Canada or from Canada to the rest of the World
  Another reminder for you about the one page on the main Rewards Canada site that sees a good amount of…

Bonus Offers

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Double Flying Blue Miles on all Europcar rentals of 3 days or more Worldwide except for the U.S. and Canada. More... Book by Nov 13 for rentals until Nov 30, 16

ANA Mileage Club
- Earn up to Triple Mileage Club Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 17

Asiana Club
- Earn up to Triple Club Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 17

Delta SkyMiles
- Triple SkyMiles for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Enterprise Plus
- Double Plus Points,  up to 200 Free Points + many more points for collecting badges on qualifying rentals at participating locations. More... Until Jan 20, 17

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles for BusinessConnect admins who book travel undertaken by the Etihad Guest travellers who are ‘connected’ to that BusinessConnect account. More... Register and book by Oct 31 for travel until Dec 31, 16

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Double JPMiles for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 16
- Earn up to Triple JPMiles for stays at participating Hilton hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 17
- Double JPMiles on all hotel bookings made via Kaligo! More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Jun 30, 17
- Earn up to Triple JPMiles when you stay on an eligible rate at any participating Mandarin Oriental Hotel Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 16
- Double JPMiles for stays at Meritus Hotels in Singapore and Malaysia. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Double JPMiles for your 2nd and 3rd stays at over 7,800 participating Wyndham Rewards hotels globally. More... Register & book by Dec 7 for stays until Dec 14, 16

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Triple Starpoints for stays on the Grand Opening Package at the Hotel Colonnade Coral Gables More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 31, 16

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus Stash Rewards points when you book hotels via the Stash Rewards website. More... Until Jan 31, 17



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Hotel Review: Comfort Suites Regina

This is from a stay this past summer but thought a review would be good as the Rewards Canada family had never stayed at any hotel of the numerous brands of the Choice Hotels Privileges program before.

As part of our summer Saskatchewan trip we chose the Comfort Suites Regina as it was situated close to where our relatives live and also for making trips to visit more family north of Regina.  The AAA/CAA rate was only $119 per night in the middle of summer and is a great deal for what the hotel offers. All rooms are suites, there is a pool with hot tub and waterslide, a continental breakfast with some hot items is also included.

The one thing that stood out is that Comfort Suites has obviously listened to the connected traveller as the rooms are meant for electronics and a lot of them if you need! Unlike some older hotels where you really need to search for an electrical plug and when you find one its nowhere near the bed, desk or chair, this hotel makes sure you can plug in anywhere in the room. We counted no less than 20 plug ins or USB jacks around the room. 

Two Queen Suite

The Rewards Canada kids spent tons of time in the pool and on the water slide!

6 plug in options alone in the picture!

Another 9 plug in options here!

The stay was made during a time when you earn Double Aeroplan Miles for Choice Hotel stays and those miles posted quickly:

I choose miles over Choice Privileges points as I really don't know if and when we would use those points since Choice Privileges is not one of our main programs.

Overall I have to say for the price you pay this was a really good hotel. The rooms were nice and large, the beds were comfortable and most important the hotel was very clean. The hotel is relatively new, maybe a year old as it was supposed to open sooner but the hotel pretty much burned to the ground during construction in 2014 so it had to be rebuilt. We will definitely make this our new hub for stays in Regina due to its proximity to family and being a good hotel overall.

Hotel details
Comfort Suites Regina (Book here)
Points required for a free night 12,000 to 25,000 Points


Talk to us! Have you stayed at the Comfort Suites Regina? What are your thoughts of the hotel? Or are you planning to and looking forward to it? Let us know below!

Current Bonus Mile Offers for flying within Canada or from Canada to the rest of the World

Another reminder for you about the one page on the main Rewards Canada site that sees a good amount of traffic but does get overlooked a good majority of our readers who aren't aware of it or forgot about it! That page is our Route Bonus Listing.  Be sure to bookmark it right now! This page lists all the current bonuses that Canadians can earn on flights around the globe. The list presents all the actual Canadian options first such as flights within Canada or flights originating in Canada to anywhere in the World. The remainder of the listing shows systemwide bonuses next (these are offers for all flights on an airline and may include those leaving Canada) followed by the remainder of flights bonuses from around the world that Canadian's can take advantage of. The big difference between the RC version of this listing and the listing on our Global site FrequentFlyerBonuses.com is that the RC version does not list bonuses that us Canucks cannot use which are primarily offers that are only for residents of certain countries other than Canada.

Now that you have learned about the route bonus listing or have been reminded about it we thought it would be wise to post the Canadian flight portion of the list in a post on a regular basis here on the Rewards Canada blog to remind you of the bonuses that you may be able to earn on your flights! We encourage to consult this list before you book a flight anywhere in the world or even board a flight as some offers may come up after you have already booked but you can still be eligible for. If you don't check the list there is a good chance you may miss on some extra miles to be added to your account!

Here are the current bonuses for flying within or from Canada!You'll notice we got a bit lazy and didn't break out every single Air Canada route that has a bonus right now rather we left them generalized:

From/To (or Vice Versa)		Bonus Offer	Airline Program	Validity	Details
within Canada		Up to 100% Bonus Miles	Air Canada / Aeroplan	Register and book between Sep 26 & Nov 14 for travel until Apr 30, 17	View
Canada	Asia	Up to 60,000 Bonus Miles	Air Canada / Aeroplan	Register and book between Sep 26 & Nov 14 for travel until Apr 30, 17	View
Canada	Australia	Up to 60,000 Bonus Miles	Air Canada / Aeroplan	Register and book between Sep 26 & Nov 14 for travel until Apr 30, 17	View
Canada	Europe	Up to 60,000 Bonus Miles	Air Canada / Aeroplan	Register and book between Sep 26 & Nov 14 for travel until Apr 30, 17	View
Canada	Europe	Up to 30,000 Bonus Miles	American AAdvantage	Until Dec 11, 16	View
Canada	Europe	Triple Avios	British Airways Executive Club	Until Dec 11, 16	View
Canada	Europe	Triple Points	Finnair Plus	Until Jan 31, 17	View
Canada	Las Vegas	Up to 75 bonus dollars	WestJet Rewards	Book by Oct 16 for travel Oct 1 to Feb 1 17	View
Canada	Middle East	Up to 60,000 Bonus Miles	Air Canada / Aeroplan	Register and book between Sep 26 & Nov 14 for travel until Apr 30, 17	View
Canada	Sun Destinations	Up to 100% Bonus Miles	Air Canada / Aeroplan	Register and book between Sep 26 & Nov 14 for travel until Apr 30, 17	View
Canada	U.K.	Triple Avios	British Airways Executive Club	Until Dec 11, 16	View
Canada	U.S.	Up to 100% Bonus Miles	Air Canada / Aeroplan	Register and book between Sep 26 & Nov 14 for travel until Apr 30, 17	View
Calgary	Beijing	Up to 20,000 Bonus Miles	Hainan Fortune Wings	Jun 30 - Dec 31, 16	View
Calgary	Seattle	Double Miles	Japan Airlines Mileage Bank	Aug 1 - Oct 31, 16	View
Edmonton	Seattle	Double Miles	Japan Airlines Mileage Bank	Aug 1 - Oct 31, 16	View
Kelowna	Seattle	Double Miles	Japan Airlines Mileage Bank	Aug 1 - Oct 31, 16	View
Toronto	Beijing	Up to 20,000 Bonus Miles	Hainan Fortune Wings	Until Dec 31, 16	View
Toronto	Istanbul	25% Bonus Status Miles	Turkish Miles&Smiles	Until Dec 31, 16	View
Toronto	Mexico City	Double KMs	AeroMexico Club Premier	Until ?	View
Vancouver	Seattle	Double Miles	Japan Airlines Mileage Bank	Aug 1 - Oct 31, 16	View
Victoria	Seattle	Double Miles	Japan Airlines Mileage Bank	Aug 1 - Oct 31, 16	View

October 18 Update: Podcast Episode 4 is now out, Aeroplan change fees increase & updates to our Travel Medical Insurance coverage

News, Tips & Tricks
The latest Rewards Canada Podcast came out yesterday. You can listen to it via our Podcast page or via iTunes. Google Play is in the works!

We've added a 'Travel Hacking' table of contents to the Rewards Canada website so that you can easily access any Travel Hacking articles we post. Find that table of contents here.

A late congratulations to Shaun D. who won the 2 Tickets to the Aeroplan Exclusives Private Event "An Unforgettable Evening with Bon Jovi" in Toronto - Courtesy of Aeroplan & Rewards Canada which was held last night!

We reported sometime ago that American Airlines is cancelling their Halifax-Philadelphia service this coming January well it looks like Delta has seen this as an opportunity to bring back their New York JFK-Halifax route that ended on October 1st. The route will relaunch on January 9th. (Source Routesonline)



Posts since our last update:

• Get elite status with at least six hotel reward programs with The Platinum Card from American Express
  Club Lounge access at Marriott Hotels is just one benefit you can enjoy when get The Platinum Card from American…
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car Plus Your Points returns - Up to 200 Free Points, Double Points on rentals and more!
  Enterprise has launched their annual Plus Your Points promotion a few weeks earlier than in past years! Here are…
• Travel Reward Credit Card Medical Insurance Coverage - Updated and refreshed!
  Our original post on this topic from 2013 has now been updated, refreshed and placed on the main Rewards Canada…
• Ouch! Aeroplan increases fees to change or cancel award tickets
  Not the news we like to start off with on a Monday but several of our readers alerted us to…

Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- 20% Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you convert Marriott Rewards points to AAdvantage miles. More... Until Nov 14, 16

Amtrak Guest Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Guest Rewards Points for weekend stays at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts in North and Latin America and French Polynesia. More... Until Jan 31, 17

Avianca LifeMiles
- 25% Bonus LifeMiles on all hotel stays booked via Rocketmiles. More... Book by Nov 30, 16

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points for stays at the Regent Contades, BW Premier Collection - Strasbourg More... Until Jan18, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating ibis and ibis styles hotels in Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Slovkaia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating hotels in Warsaw. More... Until Nov 27, 16
- Earn up to 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating hotels in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- 1,000 Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles when you make a qualifying 2 night stay at one of the participating Marriott properties in Turkey. More... Until Dec 31, 16

United MileagePlus
- 1,500 Bonus MileagePlus Miles for every night you stay at one of more than 50 participating Waldorf Astoria and Conrad Hotels & Resorts locations Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Earn up to 75% Bonus MileagePlus miles when you buy miles online. More... Until Oct 31, 16


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Get elite status with eight hotel reward programs, one airline and one cruise program with The Platinum Card from American Express

Here is one of those non-point or miles hacks to consider if you travel at least a few times per year. If you travel lots chances are you hold elite status with at least one or a couple of hotel chain frequent guest programs so this may not apply to you. But what if you only travel semi-frequently and can't hit those 25, 50 or more nights required from various programs. Or maybe you just got hired on with a company and will travel lots in 2017 but won't get hotel status until later in the year or in 2018? Or maybe your company books the lowest rates for each of your trips and has you with a different brand every time so that you can't hit those stay or point level requirements in each program for status? Then what do you do? You get yourself The Platinum Card from American Express.

The card has some of the most exceptional benefits of any card in Canada but also comes with a somewhat hefty annual fee of $699. That being said you can easily make use of the $699 with the annual $200 travel credit (use it for one of those hotel stays or for flights etc.), the airport lounge access (see our Guide to Business Class lounge access here) and tying in with this post, it gives you elite status with three hotel frequent guest programs that can then be extended to other programs that match status. In the end you should hold some sort of elite level status with a minimum of six hotel chains covering over 15,000 hotels worldwide.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with the following Elite Status benefits:

Here are just some of the benefits you get with each of the above programs:
Starwood Preferred Guest (Marriott Rewards) Gold Status

Hilton HHonors Gold Status

Radisson Rewards Gold Status

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle Jade membership

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Elite Silver Status
Of note, Shangri-La has a partnership with Singapore Airlines in the likes of Marriott's with United and how SPG had with Delta, Emirates etc. The partnership is called Infinite Journeys and provides Shangri-La Jade members with automatic Silver status in Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer program and a fast track offer to Gold Status (only 3 Singapore or Silk Air flights required). There are some other benefits included in this partnership. Find out more about Infinite Journeys here

When you get the card, register for all the above elite hotel offers. Once you have confirmed you have elite status then you're set to extend those statuses to other programs that guarantee status matches:

1. Best Western Rewards Status Match
Best Western has had one of the longer running status match offers and it is very easy to get.  Simply put the Elite Level Status Match Best Western Rewards will match your other Hotel Reward program status with no catch. The level you get depends on what Best Western thinks the equivalent level is in their program. My Hyatt Platinum status gave me Best Western Diamond status. I would use the Marriott Gold as the program to match since that one technically needs 50 nights to achieve versus SPG's 25 nights so Best Western may see you as more frequent guest deserving a higher status. Full details
Some benefits of the three levels you would be matched to:

2 Choice Hotels Privileges Status Match
An offer that has been around for a couple years but was only opened up to Canadian residents in 2018 is the Choice Hotels Privileges Status Match. After you submit your details including proof of your other status you'll receive an answer in 7-9 days as to what level they will match you to. Full details
 Some of the benefits of the Choice Hotels elite levels:

3. Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass Status Match
This small chain with hotels in the U.S., South America, Caribbean and Egypt will Elite Status Match to preferred and elite status levels in other hotel programs. Full details

 Some Sonesta Travel Pass benefits:

4. Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer
Not well publicized, the Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer program also offers status matches - they only state this in their FAQ. Seeing they only have two levels, you should be matched to Elite status as you see below. Full details

 

5. MSC Cruises Voyager Club
Per the comment from Andrew P. below MSC Cruise will status match in their Voyager Club to hotel programs as long as you register 14 days prior to your cruise date.  Full details

You can then also try other hotel programs like Voila Hotel Rewards or the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels My Millennium program who seem to be good at matching programs (sourced from Statusmatcher.com)

Its not only you who can get status!
Now what makes the card even better, is that if you add an additional Platinum Card ($175) that additional card holder is offered all the same benefits. So your spouse or significant other or even maybe your adult children who still live at home can all get the same elite status offers that are listed above! We've done this in the Rewards Canada household and it makes for great travel for your loved ones when they don't travel with you as they don't have to rely on you for those special status benefits! And for only $175 its a great deal! Not to mention the additional cardholder also gets the lounge access and other associated benefits with the card.

Here are the details of the card:

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Plus Your Points returns - Up to 200 Free Points, Double Points on rentals and more!

Enterprise has launched their annual Plus Your Points promotion a few weeks earlier than in past years! Here are the details of the return of Enterprise Rent-A-Car's Plus Your Points promotion. This year they have focused a lot on the rentals as you can now earn the double points on rentals for a longer period of time and we also see the free points offers jump from up to 70 to up to 200 if you tweet about the promo, log in on the app, opt into email communications and go paperfree

Offer Details
Double Plus Points,  up to 200 Free Points + many more points for collecting badges on qualifying rentals at participating locations. Register Online (Registration is required) then book online at Enterprise.com Until Jan 20, 17

THE FOLLOWING BADGE OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE TO ALL REGISTRANTS:
Registration badge:  20 bonus points when you register for the Promotion.
Double Points badge: Double point bonus if they pick up and return any qualifying rental. Double points will be calculated by doubling the number of base points earned for a qualifying rental. The qualifying rental can be no longer than 28 days.
Airport Weekend badge:  75 bonus points for a rental at qualifying airports in the U.S., Canada that are less than five days in length, include pick-up on Thursday, Friday or Saturday and include Saturday overnight.
Neighborhood Weekend badge: 75 bonus points for a rental at any non-airport location in the U.S., Canada that are less than five days in length, include pick-up on Thursday, Friday or Saturday and include Saturday overnight.  
Survey badge:  75 bonus points when you complete a brief survey.
  THE FOLLOWING BADGE OPPORTUNITIES ARE SUBJECT TO ELIGIBILITY:
App Download badge:  One-time bonus of 50 points if you download and sign into the Enterprise Rent-A-Car® App.
Email Opt-in badge:  One-time bonus of 50 points when you opt in to receive emails from Enterprise.
Go Paperless badge: One-time bonus of 50 points  if you are an Enterprise Plus member residing in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and opt in to receive you Enterprise Plus membership materials electronically.  
Keep Driving badge:  One-time bonus of 150 points if you complete three (3) qualifying rentals at participating Enterprise Rent-A-Car.  The qualifying rentals can be no longer than 28 days.
Rental via Mobile App badge:  50 bonus points when you reserve using the Enterprise Rent-A-Car® App and complete the rental.  The qualifying rental can be no longer than 28 days.
Rent in Europe badge: One-time bonus of 75 points if you rent at a participating Enterprise Rent-A-Car location in Europe. The qualifying rental can be no longer than 28 days.
Rent Online Badge: 50 bonus points when you reserve a rental on enterprise.com. The qualifying rental can be no longer than 28 days.

Second Rental badge:  150 bonus points on your second qualifying rental at participating airport and neighborhood locations worldwide.  
SiriusXM® Satellite Radio badge: One-time bonus of 250 points if you add SiriusXM to a qualifying rental at participating locations in the continental U.S. (additional fees may apply).  
Surprise badge:  One-time bonus of 100 points when you click on the Surprise badge within a randomly assigned one week (seven (7) day) window in which the Surprise badge will appear in your dashboard. 
Weekly Rental badge:  One-time bonus of 75 points for a qualifying Weekly Rental must be between five and fourteen days in length. 
Twitter badge:  50 bonus points when you share the qualifying Plus Your Points message, which includes the #plusyourpoints hash tag, on your Twitter account.